ICAO announces new ARFF foam testing and foam certification criteria

Published: 18 July, 2013

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) confirms the changes to the International Standards and Recommended Practices, Aerodrome Design and Operations (Annex 14, Volume 1 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation) which take effect from 15 July 2013.

The changes become applicable to member states on 14 November 2013.

Guidance on foam testing to support the changes will be published in a revised Airport Services Manual at a later date.

As well as introducing the new Level C foam standard test requirements, ICAO has introduced a new foam certification requirement, namely that certification of a concentrate should be obtained from a recognised, accredited third party testing authority.

The certification should be provided by foam manufacturers to end users for current or future products at the point of sale.

The requirement does not apply to users who have existing stocks with existing manufacturer-supplied certificates of conformity.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), through its subsidiary CAA International, can offer to witness ICAO performance tests and provide a certificate of conformity.

The CAA intends to publish a list of products which have a such a certificate.

Manufacturers who are interested in having their product tests witnessed to the new ICAO test method should contact Rob Erskine of CAA International - rob.erskine@caainternational.com - Office +44 (0)1293 57 3453, Mobile +44 (0) 7827 282524.